US Plains hard red winter wheat basis bids were steady to weaker on Monday, with rain-related harvest delays persisting in many central and eastern areas of Kansas, the top US wheat-growing state. Flooding through the eastern part of the state was severe, prompting evacuations in many south-eastern and east-central towns.
A Coffeyville, Kansas, refinery reported a spill of more than 1,000 barrels of crude oil into a major Kansas river. On the western side of the state, however, the story was different with good yields and test weights reported in many areas where harvest was progressing.
Wheat merchants said they were rolling basis bids to post against the September futures contract, dropping the basis about a nickel a bushel for the roll as July wheat stood at a 1-1/2 cent premium to September. Kansas City Board of Trade wheat futures saw wide price swings on Friday, and the KCBT July futures contract ended down 3-3/4 cents at $5.96-1/2, while the September closed down 12-1/4 cents at $5.95.
Futures were expected to rally back on Monday, supported by the harvest problems in Kansas and expected strength in soybean futures, traders said. In export news, private exporters reported the sale of 105,900 tonnes of wheat, including 42,700 tonnes of HRW wheat, to Guatemala for the 2007/08 marketing year, the US Agriculture Department said Monday. US exporters must report any US or optional origin export sales activity of at least 100,000 tonnes in one day to a single destination.
Also, Iraq's Umm Qasr port was unloading cargoes from two vessels carrying 100,000 tonnes of North American wheat purchased by the state grain agency last December, shippers and traders said on Monday. The two vessels were discharging hard wheat, which is part of four cargoes of up to 200,000 tonnes purchased last December at $220 per tonne FOB.
And on the world wheat front, the China National Grain and Oils Information Centre (CNGOIC) said it had revised upwards its estimate for the country's 2007 winter wheat output to 102 million tonnes despite drought damage in some provinces. With production exceeding demand, China would not likely import much grain and instead was set to export more wheat.